Alkali metal cyanide production

1. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide comprising the steps of:

contacting hydrogen cyanide with an aqueous solution of an alkali metal carbonate or of a mixture of alkali metal carbonate and alkali metal bicarbonate in a reaction chamber under reaction conditions sufficient to produce an aqueous alkali metal cyanide solution,

removing a gaseous effluent from the reaction chamber,

removing the aqueous alkali metal cyanide solution from the reaction chamber as a liquid effluent, and

separating any solid alkali metal bicarbonate present in the liquid effluent from the aqueous alkali metal cyanide solution.

2. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide according to claim 1 wherein the alkali metal is lithium, sodium or potassium.

3. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide according to claim 2 wherein the alkali metal is sodium.

4. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide according to claim 1 wherein the contacting step comprises contacting a hydrogen cyanide containing gas with the aqueous solution of an alkali metal carbonate or of a mixture of alkali metal carbonate and alkali metal bicarbonate under reaction conditions sufficient to produce an aqueous alkali metal cyanide solution.

5. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide according to claim 4 further comprising, prior to the contacting step, the step of cooling the hydrogen cyanide containing gas.

6. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of converting the separated alkali metal bicarbonate to alkali metal carbonate in the presence of water and, optionally, recycling said aqueous alkali metal carbonate to the contacting step.

7. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of removing hydrogen cyanide from the gaseous effluent.

8. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide according to claim 1 , wherein the step of removing hydrogen cyanide from the gaseous effluent from the reaction chamber comprises scrubbing the gaseous effluent with aqueous NaOH.

9. A method of producing an alkali metal cyanide comprising the steps of:

contacting hydrogen cyanide with an aqueous solution of an alkali metal carbonate or of a mixture of alkali metal carbonate and alkali metal bicarbonate under reaction conditions sufficient to produce an aqueous alkali metal cyanide solution,

wherein the aqueous solution of an alkali metal carbonate or of a mixture of alkali metal carbonate and alkali metal bicarbonate is contacted with excess hydrogen cyanide.

10. A method for producing sodium cyanide comprising the steps of:

reacting hydrogen cyanide with an aqueous solution of sodium carbonate in a first reaction chamber under reaction conditions sufficient to produce an aqueous sodium cyanide solution,

removing a gaseous effluent from the reaction chamber,

removing the aqueous sodium cyanide solution from the reaction chamber as a liquid effluent, and

separating any solid sodium bicarbonate present in the liquid effluent from the aqueous sodium cyanide solution.

11. A method of producing sodium cyanide according to claim 10 , wherein the contacting step comprises contacting a hydrogen cyanide containing gas with the aqueous solution of sodium carbonate or a mixture of sodium carbonate and sodium bicarbonate under reaction conditions sufficient to produce an aqueous sodium cyanide solution.

12. A method of producing sodium cyanide according to claim 11 further comprising, prior to the contacting step, the step of cooling the hydrogen cyanide containing gas.

13. A method of producing sodium cyanide according to claim 10 , wherein further processing of the liquid stream comprises separating solid sodium bicarbonate from the aqueous sodium cyanide solution.

14. A system for producing alkali metal cyanide comprising:

a reaction chamber for contacting hydrogen cyanide with an aqueous solution of an alkali metal carbonate or of a mixture of an alkali metal carbonate and an alkali metal bicarbonate to produce an alkali metal cyanide solution;

a gas phase output port in communication with the reaction chamber for discharging a gaseous effluent created in the reaction chamber;

a liquid phase output port in communication with the reaction chamber for discharging a liquid effluent created in the reaction chamber;

a separation device for receiving the liquid effluent and separating a solid bicarbonate from the liquid effluent.

15. A system of claim 14 , further comprising:

a secondary absorber for receiving the gaseous effluent from the gas phase output port and recovering residual hydrogen cyanide.

16. A system of claim 15 , wherein the secondary absorber includes an absorption liquid input port for receiving an absorption liquid for recovering the residual hydrogen cyanide.

17. A system of claim 16 , wherein the absorption liquid is aqueous NaOH, aqueous KOH or aqueous Na 2 CO 3 .

18. A system of claim 17 , wherein the secondary absorber includes a liquid output port for routing a liquid effluent back to the reaction chamber.

19. A system of claim 15 , wherein the secondary absorber includes a liquid output port for routing a liquid effluent to a decomposition reactor.

20. A system of claim 14 further comprising:

a cooling chamber for cooling the gaseous hydrogen cyanide prior to entering the reaction chamber.

21. A system of claim 14 further comprising:

a decomposition reactor that receives a bicarbonate cake from the separation device and converts the bicarbonate cake to Na 2 CO 3 , wherein the decomposition reactor optionally includes a liquid output port for routing the Na 2 CO 3 back to the reaction chamber and wherein the decomposition reactor optionally includes a vapor output port for removing CO 2 .